It is oftentimes desirable to monitor articles and to reject the articles found to be defective. Such is the case, for example, where glass containers are concerned and numerous systems and devices have been suggested and/or utilized for automatically inspecting glass containers and rejecting those found to be defective for a number of different reasons.
Among the reasons for defective glass containers are those related to the lip or sealing surface of the container and devices have been heretofore suggested for inspecting the lip of a container by means of light directed toward the lip and reflected therefrom so as to be indicative of a defect. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,631,255.
It has also heretofore been suggested that containers on a conveying line be inspected for foreign objects or defects in the container itself. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,368,676. Likewise, it has heretofore been suggested that different areas of a container or the profile of the container, can be monitored to determine faults and/or characteristics of the container such as tilt or the like. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,549,890.
Thus, while many systems have been heretofore suggested and/or utilized for article inspection or monitoring, improvements in such systems are still desirable to enhance the reliability of these systems.